Djokovic wins easily, Nadal loses in opening match of 2024

Ahead of the 2024 Australian Open, which will take place from January 14th to 28th, top tennis stars are choosing tournaments in Australia to maintain their form. Novak Djokovic and the Serbian team are participating in the United Cup and have had a successful start.

Novak Djokovic faced Chinese player Zhang Zhizhen (ranked 58th in ATP) and completely dominated. In the opening set, Djokovic secured a break point in game 6 and won 6-3.

Djokovic easily defeated Chinese player Zhang Zhizhen at the United Cup (Photo: AP).

In the second set, things were even easier for Nole as he broke Zhang Zhizhen's serve repeatedly before defeating his opponent with a score of 6-2. The match concluded after just 1 hour and 15 minutes.

In the women's singles match, Zheng Qinwen defeated Olga Danilovic 6-4, 6-2 to level the score at 1-1 for China. In the mixed doubles match, the pair of Novak Djokovic and Olga Danilovic beat Zheng Qinwen and Zhang Zhizhen to secure the victory for Serbia.

Besides Serbia and China, Group E of the United Cup also includes the Czech Republic, the European representative who lost 0-3 to China in the opening match.

The 2024 United Cup team tennis tournament features 18 teams divided into 6 groups (3 teams per group) playing a round-robin format. Each match includes one men's singles match, one women's singles match, and one mixed doubles match. The 6 group winners and the 2 best-performing second-place teams will advance to the quarterfinals.

After a year recovering from injury, Rafael Nadal returned to the court on December 31st and participated in a doubles match with Marc Lopez at the Brisbane International. In this match, Nadal's pair lost to Jordan Thompson/Max Purcell with a score of 4-6, 4-6.

In the first set, Nadal played relatively well after a year of injury treatment. However, in the fifth game, the Purcell/Thompson pair created a turning point by securing a break, leading to a 6-4 victory in the first set after 35 minutes.

In the second set, Nadal/Lopez made a mistake in game 7, and the score of the second set was also 6-4 in favor of the Australian pair. Ultimately, Rafael Nadal/Marc Lopez lost to Purcell/Thompson 4-6, 4-6 after 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Nadal lost in the doubles match at the Brisbane International (Photo: AP).

According to Spanish media, Nadal moved gracefully and possessed powerful shots, just like before his hip surgery. However, he and his compatriot Lopez gradually lost momentum as their opponent served and played exceptionally well at the net for the remainder of the match.

Nadal is also competing in the singles at the ATP 250 Brisbane International and will face Dominic Thiem in the first round today. Nadal and Thiem have met 15 times before, with the Spaniard winning 9 of those matches.

The Austrian player had previously impressively defeated James McCabe and Giulio Zeppieri in the qualifying rounds. If Nadal beats Thiem, he will likely face Aslan Karatsev (Russia) in the second round.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/djokovic-thang-de-dang-nadal-thua-o-tran-dau-mo-man-nam-2024-20240101074113402.htm